Feb
4
Posted by Judith Robinson. Finchley Chamber Orchestra and its sister group, Finchley Chamber Choir have adopted composer George Holloway.
Finchley Chamber Orchestra and Finchley Chamber Choir are “sister” organisations that both rehearse and perform in Trinity Church in North Finchley. We perform together twice a year, at Christmas and in the summer, in addition to a busy schedule of concerts throughout the rest of the year. Finchley Chamber Choir participated in Adopt a Composer a few years ago, and we thought it would be interesting to apply to the scheme as a joint venture this time around.
Our adopted composer is …
Feb
4
Posted by simonkatan. Simon katan
Sans Pareil Singers I’m just on the train heading back from Darlington to London after a very enjoyable and productive though slightly chilly rehearsal. As always the choir were warm and friendly but also open and receptive to ideas that must have seemed quite alien to them. They handled the extract from the first piece, Cycloped, better than I had hoped. All were comfortable with the idea of following natural speech rhythms as opposed to notated rhythms and a tight unison with some …
Jan
29
Posted by simonkatan. Simon katan
Sans Pareil Singers I’ve been working for the last couple of days on some loose ideas to try out with Sans Pareil when I visit next week. I already decided upon the structure of the work and the text after two previous visits in October and December.
The choir is named after one of the five trains that entered the Rainhill Trials in 1829. The trials were arranged as an open contest that would decide which locomotive would work on the nearly completed …
Jan
18
Posted by Nick Chamberlain. Composer I enjoyed a fantastic concert by The Glasgow Lyric Choir on November 22nd. I was very pleased I made the journey in the poor weather and great to hear them in their full splendor with orchestra.
The piece is going well despite a couple of weeks off with flu. I am now setting the ‘From A Railway Carriage’ poem; previously I had wanted to combine with the Alexander Smith poem ‘Glasgow’ but I found there was enough strong imagery in the …
Jan
14
Posted by Nina Whiteman. Composer
Colinton Amateur Orchestral Society
I’ve been up to Edinburgh twice since the start of the project, and my piece is now under way, so a bit of catching up to do!
In October 2009 I went to hear the Colinton Orchestra in rehearsal. They played music from their repertoire, and pieces they were preparing for their December concert. I received a very warm and friendly welcome and managed to speak to lots of the players in the tea break as well as get an idea of …
Jan
6
Posted by Lynda Grant. Colinton Amateur Orchestral Society
September 19 2009 London
The launch of the Adopt a Composer scheme in London! I was meeting our conductor, Hector Scott , at Somerset House and we were going to be introduced to our composer. At last!
Our Adopt a Composer journey had started back in 2007 when we had originally, unsuccessfully, put an application in, but Evan at Making Music had said he would keep it to resubmit. 2008 came, no scheme. 2009 and our orchestra had just stopped for the holidays …
Jan
6
Posted by Richard Bullen. Composer
Just before Christmas the MFO tried out my first composition / arrangement specifically written for them: Noisy Night. A total sight-reading test, the players certainly responded with gusto and enthusiasm to the challenge presented to them. What particularly impressed me was the speed at which the pieces improved and were beginning to come together over just a couple of run-throughs. Not a group to be underestimated in any way. Once they feel confident with something there is a real bounce and …
Jan
4
Posted by Mark. A belated congratulations to Shortlisted composer Elizabeth Winters, who won the Making Music category at the British Composer Awards last month for her piece, The Serious Side of Madness. It was written for the Kensington Chamber Orchestra as part of last year’s Adopt-a-Composer scheme. The jury said that they were “intrigued and delighted by the sound world of the winning work” and that, in a large and diverse field, it stood out for the composer’s fine ear and …
Dec
14
Posted by Richard Bullen. Composer
I have visited the Midlands Fretted Orchestra (MFO) twice since the beginning of the Adopt-a-Composer project and am planning to go again this Thursday to hear the group play through a ‘creative’ arrangement of the Christmas carol, Silent Night, I have been working on.
Both times I was greeted very warmly by the ensemble and I think bringing my acoustic guitar along (despite being of very primitive ability) and playing with them immediately helped to break down any initial barriers of …
Dec
4
Posted by Evelyn Cook. Glasgow Lyric Choir
Choir Practice
Members meeting Nick
Members listening to Nick
